Thursday, March 8, 2012

Brihadeeswarar Temple, Gangaikondacholapuram

The Brihadeswara Temple which is constructed in 1020-1029 AD is the main attraction at Gangaikondacholapuram. The temple complex built by King Rajendra Chola occupied 6 acres of land. This temple is called the second Brihadeswara Temple and is known as the Gangaikkondacholeswara Temple.

This temple was constructed as an attempt to build a temple, which excels in architectural splendor than the Big Temple at Thanjavur. Built using hard southern granite stone has beautiful carvings all around the temple and some of them are very unique and masterpieces.The temple showcases gracefulness and elegance of the Pallava and the earlier Chola empires.

The main temple consists of a sanctum tower, a big rectangular mandapa called the mahamandapa with an intervening vestibule called mukhamandapa. The tower is 180 feet tall and consists of eight stages and is carved intricately. This temple of Lord Shiva is built in such a way that the interiors of the temple always maintained in almost pleasant temperature condition. Irrespective of the seasonal changes the temperature inside the temple is always optimal.

The guardians carved on either side of the entrance of the temple are very huge. This can be seen from the image above.The Nandhi constructed using bricks and lime that is facing the Brihadisvara is 15 feet in length, 8 feet breadth and 11 feet in height. There is also a well in the temple complex for which entrance is trough the lion sculpture. There are also many sub-shrines in the temple complex.There are many sub shrines around the temple. They are: Amman shrine, Chandigeswarar shrine, Mahisasuramardhini shrine, Ganapathy shrine.

How many temples are there in India? And how did people build this stuff so long ago without access to modern machinery and computers? The artistry is exquisite! Thanks for placing your boys in the one photo as that helps us gain a sense of scale!

Beautiful Rajesh. Have you ever given any history of the people who built these beautiful temples? (I mean the actual artisans who worked on them. How many people worked on them? How they were trained?)

The sculptures at the entrance at gigantic. Seeing the people seated there really lets you see for huge they are. This is one amazing temple. It makes me think of a very ornate pyramid. A wonderful capture. genie

About Me

Love traveling across India and capturing what I see in images. There is so much to discover and one life is not enough. I just love the experience. This is my small attempt to share my experiences with the world.
Contact: rajeshprabh@gmail.com